Raikkonen triumphs after last-lap masterstroke

Kimi Raikkonen won the Japanese Grand Prix in stunning fashion today when he stormed through the field to deny Giancarlo Fisichella on the last lap at Suzuka.

Raikkonen, fresh from seeing his world championship hopes end two weeks ago in Brazil, started from 17th after rain in qualifying but he scythed through the field to win an incredible race.

Fisichella, who started third, held the upper hand right until the last lap when Raikkonen’s inspired move demoted the Renault man to second.

New world champion Fernando Alonso also battled through the field after being caught out by yesterday’s rain and he took third place courtesy of three stunning overtaking moves.

Two Renaults on the podium was enough to put the Anglo-French team back on top in the constructors’ standings, by two points from McLaren.

Mark Webber gave Williams a boost after a torrid few weeks by taking fourth, one place ahead of BAR-Honda’s Jenson Button. Red Bull’s David Coulthard was back in the points in sixth while Schumacher brothers Michael and Ralf were seventh and eighth respectively.

At the start, Ralf Schumacher made a clean getaway from pole position but all the action came behind him.

Button lost second to Fisichella while Coulthard fought his way up to fourth, surviving a scary moment when he ran wide under pressure from Webber.

Home hero Takuma Sato made a dreadful start. The BAR-Honda driver ran wide at turn one and, as he pulled back towards the track, Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari careered into his front wing.

Both drivers pitted, Sato for a new wing and Barrichello for a new left rear tyre, and dropped to the back of the field.

Juan Pablo Montoya was out of the race for good at the end of lap one though, when the Colombian clashed with Jacques Villeneuve and slammed into a tyre barrier.

Alonso and Raikkonen benefited from the first-lap chaos and soon homed in on the points finish.

Raikkonen reached the top 10 by passing Antonio Pizzonia, who spun his Williams into the gravel soon after, on lap 10.

Jarno Trulli was out on that too, the victim of Sato’s over-ambitious move. The Japanese driver lunged up the inside of Trulli’s Toyota but succeeded only in punting out the Italian.

Alonso and Raikkonen soon put pressure on Michael Schumacher for fifth. On lap 20 Alonso made his move, darting to the outside on 130R and holding his nerve to complete a gutsy pass.

The first round of pit stops saw Schumacher and Raikkonen pit last, with the pair stopping at the same time on lap 26 with just half a second separating them. At the front, Fisichella was able to leapfrog Ralf Schumacher for the lead.

Raikkonen, who got in front of Alonso in the pits, relieved Michael Schumacher of fourth soon after and Alonso immediately looked to do likewise.

On lap 33, he pulled another superb pass on the outgoing world champion. Having just failed to get by at the chicane, he made no mistake on the straight and took fifth.

The second round of pit stops saw Raikkonen just fail to get ahead of Fisichella in the battle for the lead. The McLaren driver emerged less than six seconds behind the Renault with eighth laps remaining.

Four laps later Alonso move into third by muscling past Webber at turn one but that was nothing compared to Raikkonen’s last gap move. He pulled alongside Fisichella and won a battle of nerves on the first corner of the last lap to win.

Raikkonen said: "It's a lot more difficult win than any other of my wins. In one way it's a lot nicer when you have to fight for it."

Alonso added: “We had an extremely competitive car. I felt quicker than Kimi today for the first time in the last part of the championship. Unfortunately I was not able to beat him. Before my first stop I was in front of him by a long way.”